Naruto: what are friends for
by Hichitsuki-hime
Summary: Yet another "what would Naruto be like if he had someone explain things to him and care about him?" might have some Sakura, Sasuke and maybe a bit of Kakashi bashing moments. Possible yaoi pairing, but later on.
1. prologue1

**Summary: really no clue where this is really going, but it will either have some naruto/shikamaru yaoi or if not than a very close friendship =)**

 **Disclaimer: No, i do NOT own Naruto or any of the characters, i'm just having fun lol.**

* * *

 **=Prologue=**

 **/Shinobi Academy, graduation year.**

Scratching the back of his head in confusion, Naruto stared at the Chunin. Iruka-sensei kept droning on and on about some lame history stuff and the blond kid mentally kicked himself for willingly signing up for this torture.

A couple rows away one very lazy Nara studied said blond through almost closed eyes. He could not understand the troublesome kid. The very first day of the year, when Naruto joined their class, he very enthusiastically shouted that he wanted to be the Hokage... and now all he ever did was play pranks or sit through lessons looking incredibly bored or so confused that Shikamaru thought his mind was close to breaking. If there was one word to describe this classmate of his, it would have to be 'weird'. Uzumaki Naruto was the kid's name, he was their age but apparently failed to graduate twice in a row, which meant he was clever or talented enough to be admitted 2 years before his age group. And so why on earth was he such a goof. The Nara considered the possibility of Naruto just pretending to be a clown, but then again, the boy seemed completely unable of deception on such a scale.

"So troublesome..." - grumble the Nara heir and buried his head in his hands, tuning out Iruka-sensei.

…

…

…

 ***whack** *

The Nara looked up at Iruka-sensei. The Chunin glared at him. Shikamaru stared back blankly. This went on for a couple of minutes until Naruto used Iruka's distraction to drop a paint-bomb on their teacher and make a mad-dash through the window.

For a few moments it was completely quiet in the classroom. And then the entire class started laughing. Even though most of Naruto's pranks were pretty easy, they never failed to amuse people. Shikamaru found himself chuckling slightly as well. This was the part of Naruto's personality that was easy to understand. Being an orphan made the boy crave attention. And when he failed at getting it in normal ways, he started pranking people. Even though it made everyone think of him as a clown, they were still forced to think about it. The Nara had no idea why the adults seemed to almost hate the blond boy, his attempt to ask his father was certainly not successful, but whatever it was, his old man was aware of it. Just unlike most everyone else in the village, it didn't make the man hate his classmate. For that Shikamaru was grateful.

"Class dismissed." - barked the paint covered Chunin - "Next time we'll have a small test on the history we covered so far." With those words he hurried outside.\

Once he was outside, his students groaned. The boy with triangular marks on his cheeks kicked his desk and winced:

"Why does that moron always DO that?"

"You found his prank funny, Kiba." - pointed out the Aburame next to him - "Why is that? Because you laughed."

The kid scowled and the puppy sitting on his head tried growling, but with how young the dog was it didn't sound intimidating at all:

"You stay out of it, bug boy. No one asked you."

"Don't be so rude, you idiot!" - Ino stood from where she was sitting behind Kiba and swiftly bonked him on the head.

"Oi!" - the brown-haired brat whined, rubbing the back of his head - "The hell was that for?"

"FOR BEING RUDE!"

Shikamaru groaned mentally. This was the part that was not so great about Naruto's pranks. They almost always backfired. True, the blond a few laughs and smiles during the prank... but then the whole class was punished and of course the Uzumaki would be blamed for it.

"So troublesome..." - groaned the Nara heir again, as he listened to the botching going on all around him. He wasn't going to stop them... not unless they decided to be particularly nasty. He never stopped them from bitching about their frustration, but when they started getting out of hand he was sure to cut in and defuse the conflict before any real harm was done. Shika didn't know why he always stood up for the blond in these situations, but he knew he wasn't about to stop.

 **/with Naruto. Somewhere in the village.**

The blond ran. It was something he was good at. It didn't hurt that he felt free when he ran at the top of his speed. And he was FAST. It was one thing being chased by people helped him with. While he was running he could just enjoy the wind in his face and worry about anything except staying faster than others. If he was honest with himself, he could admit that pranking others was not exactly the best way to get them to acknowledge him. All it gave him was a momentary win... and then things got even worse. And try as he might, he had no clue why that was. His pranks were funny. People laughed at them. So why did everything become worse for him soon after? Humans sure were confusing.

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 **Author's Note:** yeah yeah, it's short. But it's a start. It was just something running circles in my mind and so i had to get it out lol. R &R lol


	2. prologue2

**Author's Note:** And here's the next chapter. It doesn't have much descriptions in it and i will TRY to work on it in the future chapters, Just for now i'm focusing on events and bonding between people lol. Hope you like it, and if so... let me know, i can't read your minds u know lol.

And a special thank you with a cherry on top to Kairan1979 for my very first review =) though do make me feel much better. =^.^=

 **About pairings** : Well... considering all the kids are 12 when they graduate, i think we've got a LOT of time before that even matters lol. But i think this will be more about friendship bonds of anything, maybe some bromance lol

* * *

 **=One=**

"Troublesome blonds..." - Shikamaru all but whined. Except of course men didn't whine, thank you very much. After finally getting out of the academy the Nara decided to be nice and warn Naruto about the test. … but... he just couldn't find the guy. He checked all the places he could think of. With a sigh he glanced up at the Hokage monument and instantly got the desire to smack himself on the head. Why on earth did he forget about that place?

'Some genius I am...' - he though to himself and started on the track to the monument. On the way he wondered why did he even bother. It wasn't like they were friends... yet, Shikamaru mentally added. They weren't friends YET. Of course it would be super troublesome, but... for some reason he didn't want the blond to be so alone. Everyone needed a friend. And it looked he would have to be one for Naruto.

The village was pretty busy around him, civilians were still at work mostly, but elderly people were out and about so were the shinobi on leave. It looked very calm and peaceful. Though every now and then the Nara heard random people, mostly storekeepers talk to each other about 'that kid' and 'october 10th'. That as far as he knew was the day of the Kyubi attack... and also... Naruto's birthday. For some reason, the boy had a baaaaad feeling about whatever it was that was going to happen. He stopped by Ichiraku ramen and got 2 bowls of pork ramen to go. What he said was rather important and he needed Naruto to understand that he was not trying to be mean. Ramen, he hoped, would ensure that he had the blond's attention.

The first thing he noticed, when he finally got to the head of the Yondaime Hokage, was the melancholy on the Uzumaki's face. He was both sad and kind of wistful. So far it looked like the blond hasn't noticed him yet and Shikamaru inched closer:

"Hei Naruto." - he called out softly so as not to startle the other boy.

He got a wary stare from narrowed sky blue eyes:

"Shikamaru." - was the muttered response. The Nara saw how tense Naruto has become. It hurt a little since he's never been mean to the other kid, but then again Naruto has never been around for when the Nara would save him from the vengeance of the rabid Sasuke-fangirls.

"Mind if I sit down?" - he asked carefully. His only response was a rigid shrug. So he settled near Naruto, but not too close, he didn't want this to be over before it actually started.

The blond regarded him warily, which was weird. It clashed with the image Naruto portrayed at the academy. The blond his classmates knew was literally incapable of being quiet. And yet he was totally silent and still at the moment. They eyed each other for what seemed like forever, but in truth was hardly longer than a couple of minutes. Finally the Uzumaki fidgeted and looked to the ground:

"What do you want?"

It came out sullenly and Shika smothered the desire to chuckle, even though they were both kids the blond sometimes behaved like he was 5. The brunet leaned back so he was lying on the head of the yondaime hokage and stared at the clouds:

"I figured i'd let you know that we have a test next class. To review all the material we learned so far."

This made the blond's blue eyes to become ridiculously large... kind of like saucers:

"TEST?!" - he yelled.

"Yup." - came the calm lazy reply.

"But... but... but..." - Naruto sputtered - "Iruka-sensei didn't say..."

The Nara raised an eyebrow and gave him a level look:

"Well... you weren't exactly around to listen. Your prank annoyed him, so he decided to give us all a surprise test."

This was nothing new of course, but this was the first time Shikamaru was there to see how Naruto reacted faced with realization of the fact that his prank backfired.

"But... I just..." - he mumbled - "I... I just thought it'd be funny..."

The Nara sighed quietly:

"And it was... until Iruka-sensei decided to give us a test cause we found the prank funny."

Naruto's lower lip trembled slightly:

"I don't get it... everyone hates me... I just..."

Shikamaru sighed. He was feeling out of his depth, things like this needed to be discussed with an adult, not a fellow classmate. It was way too troublesome than he expected. Then an idea started forming in his mind. HE might not be able to explain these things to the blond... but his dad should be able to. Of course getting the two to talk might be troublesome... but wasn't it worth it?

"Yeah... I know..." - he kinda mumbled - "Say, Naruto? Wanna come for dinner with me? I could help you study for the test a bit..."

 _'Oh crap...'_ \- he thought, cause the other boy's face lit up like a damn Christmas tree – _'this will be such a pain...'_

For Naruto, this was the first time anyone ever asked him out for food, with the exception of Iruka-sensei of course, but this felt very different. Shikamaru was a classmate, albeit a lazy one. The two of them couldn't be more different if they tried, but the dark-haired boy was being nice. And nice things didn't happen often to Naruto often, which taught him to treasure those moments.

* * *

 **End note:** still short, i know lol. The will stay that way for a while, until i remember how to put description fluff into it haha. Here we have Shika with good intentions. And since he's called a 'lazy genius' quite often, i figure it's not out of the realm of possibility that he understands quite a bit about the reasonings behind Naruto's persona, but he's still only an 11 year old kid, so i figure the true attempt is going to come from daddy dearest... if it's not too troublesome that is haha =)

remember: read and review :P


	3. ch1 p1

**Author's Note:** And here's the next chapter. It doesn't have much descriptions in it and i will TRY to work on it in the future chapters, Just for now i'm focusing on events and bonding between people lol. Hope you like it, and if so... let me know, i can't read your minds u know lol.

And a special thank you with a cherry on top to **Kairan1979** and **Alexkitkat** =) you two are my favorites for sure.

Please people, stop telling to NOT write yaoi though, because if i'm told enough not to do something, chances are i will do exactly the opposite x.x

P.S.: English is not my native language, so yes there will be mistakes that Word doesn't notice haha.

* * *

 **=Chapter 1.1=**

Being the jounin commander was a taxing job. Of course... not as bad as dealing with his wife's wrath if he were to even think about slacking off. Some days Nara Shikaku really questioned the state of his mind when he decided to marry the woman. But of course then he'd see his son and all would be okay again, because yes he loved his wife very much... though not as much as he loved his son. His friends and former teammates noticed this pretty fast and made a point to make fun of him quite often, still his family was his family and he'd do anything to keep them happy. There was of course the fact that his son, much like himself... like their entire clan really, was pretty lazy. And his wife was anything but. Which made for VERY troublesome arguments that became more and more frequent the older Shikamaru became. And Shikaku made sure to stay out of them. He had a good sense of self-preservation after all thank you very much. But privately he always thought that his wife was way too pushy. Naturally he'd never actually come out and say it.

A glance at the clock and then at his paperwork had the man groaning. Today would be a LONG day. Why did people always come to him with their problems? Did he look like he was a shrink? He had his own problems, but alas, he was the Jounin Commander. And apparently in peace-time it meant playing shrink. He opened the first scroll.

Accused: Muraki Isato.

Age: 35

Rank: Chunin

Incident: Peed out of his window on the head of one Haruno Mebuki. Accused was possibly drunk.

Shikaku resisted the urge to bang his head on the desk. Why oh why did the civilian council sent his things like THIS to handle. He was NOT a shrink damn it. The man massaged his temples and threw the paper into the bin. The next dozen or 2 were all pretty much of the same content more or less. Ignorant stuck-up villagers bickering about some action of a drunk ninja. Sure, it was a bit offensive, but it was not something he had to deal with, so like always, he made a list of names involved and forwarded all those to his assistant... they did pay the woman to actually do something right? This of course freed up some time and for once Shikaku was going to be home at a decent time.

* * *

Yoshino Nara, unlike many of the other clan wives, Nara or otherwise, was a force to be reckoned with. She did not take crap from anyone. And certainly wasn't shy about letting people know exactly what she thought of them. The only problem in her opinion was her son's attitude. The boy was too much like his father, in fact some of her friends asked her now and then if she was sure she was the one to give birth to him. And that was just so depressing. How could she have given birth to such a lazy kid? Seriously. But of course Shikamaru inherited not only the Nara laziness, he also got the brains. And it was such a pain to even try and motivate him to do anything except watch clouds, take a nap or play shogi with his father.

Yoshino blew a strand of dark hair out of her eyes as went about the daily chores. The deer were certainly good company, especially the young ones, so full of life and energy... unlike her whole clan. The woman absently petted one of them, deep in thought. She was so distracted, that she literally jumped when her son called out of nowhere:

"Hei Mom! I brought a friend for dinner. We're gonna study for the test together."

Yoshino swiftly turned around and gaped. This was so weird. Shikamaru brought a friend over. A friend that wasn't Chouji. Instead she saw a blond mop of a kid that was pretty much... hiding behind Shikamaru. A smile made its' way onto Yoshino's face.

"Good afternoon, Shika-chan." - she grinned widely as her son grimaced at the name and a faint snicker was heard from behind him - "Dinner is just about ready. And who do we have here?" - she tried to take a good look at the hiding kid, who attempted to shrink away from her curious gaze and somehow managed to trip up and fall down.

"Ouch..." - the little blond muttered as he massaged his behind and very slowly looked up at the two Nara looking at soon as the scared blue eyes saw both mother and son looking at him, he had a very strong urge to run, but that was not a very good shinobi response. He was supposed to be brave, not a little kid running at the first sign of danger. He would trust that Shikamaru wouldn't bring him home if his family would be against it... for now at least... or he'd try...

Yoshino extended her hand to help the boy up and saw the child flinch. Just what the hell was going on here? From what she was told this boy was her son's classmate. And yet he looked like he was at least a couple years younger. He was dressed in a overly large orange jumpsuit and standard blue sandals that had obviously seen better days. On his head was a mop of unruly spiky blond hair, not pale like the Yamanakas, but a rich almost golden color. His eyes were blue and vibrant like the sun, or they would be she thought, if they weren't muted by wariness that had no place in a child so young. It was then as her eyes traveled down the boy's face that she noticed the thin lines on his cheeks. That was when everything clicked in place. She was surprised there wasn't an audible click to go with that realization. This child. This cute looking young boy... was the vessel. The living prison of the beast that attacked the village and was imprisoned by their greatest hero – Namikaze Minato, the 4th Hokage. And this here was the child who was unlucky to have been selected to act as the prison for the strongest of the bijuu.

"Naruto-kun, take my hand." - she said quietly and calmly in a voice she usually used to talk to young deer not used to human contact - "I'm going to help you up."

There was suspicion in the wary blue eyes, but inch by inch he reached out and grasped her offered hand. Yoshino gave him a warm smile and helped the boy get on his feet. She turned to her son while Naruto dusted himself off:

"Shika, show your friend into the house. I need to finish feeding the deer. I will call you boys when the food is ready."

Her son nodded carefully with a thoughtful expression on his face. Lazy he may be, but he was VERY observant, she had no doubt he would soon figure out Naruto's secret if he hadn't already, but she knew her son well enough to be confident that he would not abandon his friend over this matter.

* * *

 **End Note:** well, this is that for today. Tell me guys, would you rather i post small chapters everyday (or every other day lol) or try for bigger slower updated chapters ?

And hei keep em reviews coming, it's important for me to know what you guys think hehe =)


	4. ch1 p2

**Author's Note:** And here's the next chapter. It doesn't have much descriptions in it and i will TRY to work on it in the future chapters, Just for now i'm focusing on events and bonding between people lol. Hope you like it, and if so... let me know, i can't read your minds u know lol.

 **Short summary:** How would Naruto turn out if our resident genius clan got involved with his life more actively? 0.o

 **Pairings:** Nope, not even thinking about them until Naruto and his generation hit 16 or something lol.

 **Disclaimer:** yeah yeah, i keep forgetting to put it there. But i do remember i do NOT own Naruto lol... or else i wouldn't have to look for a job lol.

* * *

 **=ORANGE is AWESOME! Believe it!=**

As Naruto slowly followed his classmate through the compound he couldn't help but feel really out of place. Even though this place was not stuffed with things that screamed 'rich' it was obvious that the owners were well off. The house they were in was... BIG. The floors were well polished and wooden, very well cared for. It was a bit darker than he would have preferred, but the blond thought that for a clan of lazy people it must be just about perfect. There were some pictures on the walls, mostly family portraits or sceneries all pretty calm inducing. Even as nervous as the Uzumaki felt, he couldn't help but be relax just a bit. He knew for a fact that whatever it was that made the villagers hate him, Shikamaru's mother knew what it was... and yet so far the woman has not done anything to indicate a desire to harm him. Of course that was just the first impression, but it was more than he could expect from most other people. He was so absorbed into staring around and trying to figure out the mystery that was Mrs. Nara, that he managed to walk into Shikamaru when the taller boy stopped walking.

"I'm so sorry!" - he blurted out with a cringe. It came out way louder and high-pitched than he wanted it to be.

Shikamaru blinked at him slightly confused:

" No harm done, Naruto." - he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck - "Damn, you've got some lungs man."

"Sorry." - the blond repeated sheepishly this time, looking down at his feet.

"It's all good." - was all that he got in reply, along with a small shrug - "Mom will probably be a while. My room is just through here. We can get started do some studies while we wait."

It was simply hilarious how fast Naruto's face contorted into a grimace of horror. The Nara heir had to try hard to hold in the snort that threatened to escape. That would certainly be a set-back.

They entered the room together and even though he would never admit it, Shika was glad that his mother forced him to tidy up in the morning. Don't get it wrong, he wasn't a messy person, not really. But cleaning required a certain amount of effort... and making that effort more often than really necessary was just so... troublesome. And yet now that he had a guest in his room, he was glad he bothered. Maybe... just maybe, his mother's nagging actually had a point... though one instance was in his opinion not enough to change his habits.

He gestured for Naruto to take a seat and the boy carefully perched on the edge of the chair.

 _'Damn he really is a LOT different outside the classroom.'_ \- thought Shikamaru and once again thanked himself for deciding to pawn this troublesome blond onto his dad, because the longer he spent with the boy, the more obvious it became that turning Naruto into a decent shinobi in training would require more than just some tutoring and behavior advice.

"So Naruto," - spoke Shikamaru, as he all but fell face first onto his bed - "I've been curious for a while now... why all the orange?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he saw Naruto brighten up so fast that it looked like a switch was pulled:

"Isn't it AWESOME?!" - the blond enthused - "Orange is the best color EVER! Oh! Oh! And orange clothes are so cheap!"

* * *

Yoshino, who didn't _really_ have any chores to do, muted her chakra signature and followed the boys after a few minutes. It wasn't that she was worried or anything, bu she was VERY curious and she knew from experience that there were things that kids would tell their peers but never discuss with adults. The woman had to work very hard to not start laughing or worse – banging her head on the wall. The boy was SO much like Kushina, it was quite scary. And this did raise some questions.

From what she recalled, the Sandaime Hokage said that the boy was an orphan that was given the Uzumaki name as per Kushina's last wishes. But could that have been a lie? Was in he in truth her friend's real son? She knew the Uzushio princess was pregnant the day before the Kyubi attacked... so it was possible. But if so, then why did the old man lie? Why were all the attempts to adopt Naruto always thwarted? Just what exactly was the secret here? Oh she had no doubt her husband probably already knew. But that didn't mean she would take the easy way and ask him. No, she was a Nara too, and she would solve this mystery on her own.

Still, saying orange clothes were cheap was just plain wrong. She has never seen any discounts on that color, nor were they appropriate for a ninja to wear... and at that thought Yoshino froze. Could that be real reason? Was it that whoever sold that monstrosity he was wearing to Naruto was actually hoping that the bright colors would make him an easy target and get him killed should the boy graduate? The thought was chilling. It was hard to think that they had civilians who were that cold. How could they not understand the difference between being a monster and being a prison for said monster? People were really ignorant idiots, the feisty female decided.

She then listened to Shikamaru trying to get Naruto to pay attention as her son tried to get him ready for some surprise test they'd have soon. But judging from the noises coming from the room, he was not having much luck. She then felt a spike of her husband's familiar chakra approaching.

 _'Perfect timing for a change.'_ \- she snickered.

* * *

 **End Note:** GRRRR they just refuse to get longer . it could be that i have a not so pleasant dentist appointment of course, it made me not in the mood to do anything at all lol. Might try and introduce some other characters next chapter hehe. But again, i don't write the story, it kinda writes itself, so we'll have to see what happens =)

... and remember R &R


	5. chapter 2

**Short summary:** How would Naruto turn out if our resident genius clan got involved with his life more actively? 0.o

 **Pairings:** Nope, not even thinking about them until Naruto and his generation hit 16 or something lol.

 **Disclaimer:** yeah yeah, i keep forgetting to put it there. But i do remember i do NOT own Naruto lol... or else i wouldn't have to look for a job lol.

 **P.S.:** I did say i'd be playing with some other character today, looks like they agreed hehe =)

* * *

 **=Soo... Sasuke... sooo... cool... or not?=**

While Shikamaru was unsuccessfully trying to get Naruto to study for their test, one pink-haired Haruno Sakura spent her afternoon hidden in a bush staring at Uchiha Sasuke. Of course at that particular moment she was having a quiet spat with her neigbour in the bush, her former friend, Yamanaka Ino.

"Go away, Ino-pig..." - the pinkette hissed through her teeth.

"No." - the platinum blond haired girl ground out - "You go away."

"I was here first!" - Sakura exclaimed thankfully remembering to keep her voice down.

"Like I care." - Ino scoffed - "I'm sure Sasuke-kun wouldn't want you and your abnormally large forehead around."

Sakura flinched. Her forehead wasn't exactly all that large, but the hair style her mother insisted on was certainly not helping at all. It was during that small pause that both girls felt an intense stare fixed on them. They slowly looked up and both screeched:

"SASUKE-KUN!"

Sakura smiled shyly, while Ino tried to elbow Sakura to the back.

"Get out." - the boy in question deadpanned, looking at both girls with extreme distaste.

Ino flinched and looked down, while Sakura wailed about Sasuke-kun being so cool.

When neither girl moved, the boy gave them a very disgusted glare and stomped away, muttering about rabid fangirls.

As he departed, silence descended on the clearing, only disrupted by the slight rustle of leaves on the trees. The two girls grew more and more depressed with every passing second. Clouds gathered in the sky, but both young females were oblivious to it, they were to busy studying each other, sizing up the opposition so to say.

Ino, despite only being 11 years old was pretty tall with long platinum blond hair that was always shiny and well-kept, mostly pulled up into a high pony tail. Purple was one of her favorite colors to wear, but it was a dark enough shade that it wasn't such an eyesore, it even worked well for her because it made her big blue-green eyes stand out even more. Her skin was not exactly flawless, Sakura could see small nicks here and there but they were very few and not visible at all unless you were to stare intently … like she was doing at the moment. What also threw Sakura for a loop was the fact that Ino... actually had muscles. That was not exactly unheard of, all the boys likes showing theirs off... but not the girls. In fact her mother would kill her if she had muscles like that... Sakura shuddered at the thought.

Yamanaka Ino was also thoughtfully staring at her love-rival and former best friend. Sakura hasn't changed much in the 2 years they've been apart. She still had a larger than average forehead, still looked very slim and had little to muscle-mass to speak of. What was even more ridiculous, she could see no calluses on her hands, which would be close to impossible what with how much extra training it took her to be proficient at throwing her shuriken and handling kunai. That Sakura didn't have any, meant one of two things. Either she had some sort of new kekkei genkai that allowed her to heal super fast.. or the more likely option of her just not spending any extra time training. Ino knew that even she didn't spend enough time training of course... at least on the days when she was willing to admit that following Sasuke around wouldn't help her become a better kunoichi. Of course even such a useless activity did Ino _some_ good, it allowed her to train her detection avoiding skills... not that it required that much effort, not with how absorbed Sasuke got when he trained. Objectively Ino knew the raiven-haired avenger wouldn't be interested in a girl who was weaker than him, so that's why she trained, but of course she couldn't allow Sakura to stalk... *cough*... FOLLOW their crush on her own, she just didn't trust the other girl not to try and one-up her while she was busy. But back to observing Sakura. Her hair was still very pink but longer and styled absolutely horribly. There was no doubt that this was a monstrosity created by Sakura's mother, Mebuki. Ino cringed at the thought of that woman, she was a civilian through and through her daddy said, whatever that meant Ino wasnt too sure, but one thing was clear – Haruno-san had no clue how to raise and care for a kunoichi. Even after 5 years at the academy Sakura didn't look like a kunoichi at all, she was soft and slim. Frankly she looked like she'd fall over if the wind picked up. Of course Sakura did have her redeeming qualities, the Yamanaka heiress had to admit. She was incredibly smart. Or maybe she had a very good memory, because theory classes and anything involving book research the pinkette aced with ease. Ino has never really seen Sakura spend a lot of time in the library. She went there often, almost every day really, but she never spent more than an hour or two there. It was all in all pretty weird. Ino was pretty sure that this girl in front of her had no chance with Sasuke, in fact she wasn't even sure she would live long with how un-kunoichi she seemed. And wasn't that a chilling thought? No matter how much she yelled about hating Sakura, she certainly didn't want her dead. And so there had to be something she could do to help... she had no clue what.

And then the raid started. Ino blinked as the first drops fell. Sakura shrieked: "This is so your fault, Ino-pig!"

"Is not, you stupid forehead!" - snapped Ino defensively. Here she was thinking about helping Sakura, but who was she kidding? The other girl would probably just think she was trying to spy on her to undermine her chances with Sasuke.

Sakura huffed angrily, gave Ino one last glare and ran home as fast as she could... which really wasn't all that fast. Ino stood still for a bit more, blinking at the retreating pinkette. Wow, was she slow, thought Ino. With a mental shrug she too headed home.

* * *

She decided to stay at the library while it was raining, since it was closer than her house. While there, the blond happily accepted some spare clothes from Ten-Ten, a freshly graduated genin who was apparently doing a solo D rank mission, which was organizing the newly returned books.

"Why are you doing it alone?" - asked Ino, her eyebrows rising.

The older girl chuckled: "Why not? Neji is getting training from his clan today and Lee is training with Gai-sensei. I'd rather do an extra mission and get some pocket money than spend time with those two."

Ino blinked, that sounded... not very nice: "But.. don't you feel left out? I mean both of them are getting extra training.."

Ten-Ten shrugged: "Not really. It really depends a lot on your point of view you, you know. Neji is a Hyuuga, so his kind of training won't do anything for me. And Lee and Gai-sensei are close quarter fighters. They are tai-jutsu specialists. Gai-sensei sort of adopted Lee. So they train a lot together. You probably have seen them around, they both wear green spandex with yellow weights. It's really quite an unforgettable sight." - here the older girl gave a nervous embarrassed kind of laugh.

Ino blinked. She did indeed recall seeing a very weird guy dressed in _very_ tight green spandex. He had a horrid bowl-shaped haircut and eyebrows that to her strongly resembled catterpillars. The blond shuddered.

This caused her new acquaintance to giggle quietly: "Yep. That's the one."

Ino gaped: "How did you know?"

"The expression on your face. Gai-sensei and Lee leave that kind of impression on people." - Ten-Ten grimaced - "They have absolutely no fashion sense sadly. There is doubt, Gai-sensei is a very strong jounin, but like most of them he is also very eccentric. So I'd rather take extra D-ranks. Here at the library there's always a chance you could run into some of the older ninja who might have some spare time and wouldn't mind teaching you something." - she smiled giddily.

"Hmm..." - Ino hummed in thought. It seemed like a good idea to her, after all, if her hunch about Sasuke was correct, she'd need to be very strong before he'd even acknowledge her, never mind deem her good enough to maybe date.

"Say, Ten-Ten... how do you figure out what you are most suited for?"

"Meaning?" - blinked the brunette, as she pushed one of the books in her hands back into its' place.

"Well like..." - Ino bit her lower lip, trying to find the right words - "... like, you know... I'm a Yamanake, so it's expected of me to excel at our clan mind jutsu and then get stuck on a Ino-Shika-Cho team like my father, Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chouza. So... how do I know that that's actually the best thing for me?"

Ten-Ten shrugged: "Honestly i'd talk to your old man about this Ino-chan. From what I know he's a very understanding man, i'm sure he'd help you figure it out."

"Yeah I guess..." - Ino nodded glumly - "It's just... i'm his heiress, I'm supposed to become the next head of the clan... I fear it wouldn't be very accepted if I decided to pick something else to specialize in."

The brunette sighed: "Well, he loves you, right?" - At this Ino nodded indignantly - "Then he will see things from your point of view. After all, as a father he should have your best interests at heart."

Ino smiled gratefully, she felt a little silly for bringing it up, especially in conversation with someone she barely interacted with before. But it still made her feel much better. She wished the other girl a good day and hurried home, hoping she wouldn't be late for dinner.

* * *

 **End Note:** aaand i'll leave it here before my brain explodes =) let me know what you think, review are very good fuel for making the new chapter exist :P


	6. Chapter 3

**Short summary:** How would Naruto turn out if our resident genius clan got involved with his life more actively? 0.o

 **Pairings:** Nope, not even thinking about them until Naruto and his generation hit 16 or something lol.

 **Disclaimer:** yeah yeah, i keep forgetting to put it there. But i do remember i do NOT own Naruto lol... or else i wouldn't have to look for a job lol.

 **P.S.:** and back to Naruto and Shika we go =) damn. second chapter today. but oh well, i was in the mood hahaha =)

And omg. got a guest review about how i'm a pathetic virgin cause apparently i was bashing someone? hmmm didn't notice really. was i? and besides, there's nothing wrong with bashing, so long as it's not damn excessive. what IS pathetic however, is leaving nasty comments based on nothing and not even having enough courage to own up to their words and identify themselves lol. ./mini-rant over.

* * *

 **=Deathtrap, thy name is RAMEN!=**

Dinner at the Nara household was one of the weirdest experiences in Naruto's admittedly short life. He had a hard time sitting still and not fidgeting around. It wasn't that the chair was uncomfortable or anything like that. It was that... there... was... no ….ramen! His brain refuse to accept this sad fact. At first he thought it would be brought later, even though it'd be weird, but eventually he came to the horrifying realization there indeed was no ramen for dinner. For him who literally had ramen for every meal, this was pretty much a travesty and it apparently showed on his face., because eventually Shikamaru's father spoke to him quietly.

"Was dinner bad, Naruto-kun?"

The blond froze. He knew well enough that he should not sound ungrateful. It was a tasty meal regardless. But eventually under Shikaku's expectant stare he looked at his lap and quietly mumbled:

"no ramen..."

There was silence for a few moments and then the Older shinobi threw his head back against the chair and laughed. Loudly. Naruto glared mulishly.

"Wow. That was funny." - said Shikaku - "You seriously spent the whole dinner brooding because there was no ramen?"

Naruto refused to look at the man. He knew he was likely acting childish, but he refused to betray the Ramen God.

Yoshino leaned over and elbowed her husband:

"You. Be nice to our son's friend." - she chuckled - "We all have out favorite food..." - Naruto gave her a brilliant thankful smile, she defended the Ramen God after all. But then he heard the next part - "I did wonder how come you are short Naruto, but seeing how much you love ramen it's really no wonder." - she finished her though with a grin.

Naruto paled and his jaw dropped. This could not be happening. It was not possible. No. The Ramen couldn't possibly be responsible for him being short... right?... right?

"Good job, mom." - drawled Shikamaru lazily - "You broke him."

Yoshino blushed a little and peered closely at Naruto. The blond had a vacant look in his blue eyes:

"Naruto you okay?" - she asked softly. No response. She asked again, a little louder. Still silence. She shook him by the shoulders and the boy literally flew off the chair with a loud wail of: "NOOOOOOOOO!"

The three Nara watched him as the boy backed up crab-style until he bumped into the wall and then stared at them with huge pained eyes:

"Not the Ramen.. it can't be the Ramen..." His eyes begged them to assure him that his precious Ramen was safe and that it wasn't the culprit in his stunted growth.

Shikaku sighed when it was obvious that neither his wife nor his son would be of help. This was going to be sooooo troublesome. But he owed it to this boy to try and make him see sense. There was a lot he knew about Naruto and the boy's habits. Mostly in connection to his infamous pranks. He knew why the boy was behaving this way. And since it happened that the Uzumaki was now at his compound he would do his best to try and shape the kid into something the Yondaime could actually be proud of. He realized that personality-wise the little blond was almost Kushina reincarnated, but he was sure that his father's brilliance was in there somewhere. Perhaps buried deeply behind insecurity, but it had to be there. And he, Nara Shikaku, would do all he could to drag it out into the light.

He got out of his chair and carefully, slowly made his way to where Naruto was sitting on the floor, making sure that his empty hands were always visible. When he was sure the boy wouldn't bolt, he crouched in front of the distraught child:

"Hei, Naru-chan.." - he mummbled quietly, so that his son wouldn't hear, he was certain Shika wouldn't tease him about it, but better safe than sorry. "What's wrong?"

The blond blinked away the tears that were starting to spill: "S-she... said mean things about the Ramen." - the boy pouted adorably.

Shikaku gave him a sad smile, he'd seen the boy at Ichiraku's every day on his way back from work:

"Kid, i'm not saying you can't eat ramen at all. But eating JUST ramen everyday is not healthy. And yes, it can cause you to be shorter than you would be normally." Fresh tears glistened in the boy's eyes and now no amount of rubbing his eyes seemed to help.

* * *

While her husband was trying to get Naruto to stop crying, Yoshino grabbed Shikamaru and took him outside to get a small workout done. The boy would normally whine and stall, but tonight he knew that it was important for Naruto to open up to his dad if the old man was to have any chance of helping him out. Now your average kids would feel jealous, but there was indeed a reason why Nara Shikamaru was called a lazy genius, he was more mature than most of his classmates and he was also very level-headed. Therefore it didn't bother him that his parents might care for another kid, especially if that kid was Naruto. There was just this something about the small blond. Something that made Shika want to kepe him safe, he supposed that was how one would feel about a younger sibling... or maybe a very close friend. Which was kind of amazing, seeing as how Naruto and him didn't exactly share a sibling-like bond yet. They just weren't that close, but the Nara heir supposed, he might actually want to have that type of bond with his new friend. He glanced at his mother. Even though she took him outside to give Dad and Naruto some space, he knew he'd have to practice something with her.

"Hei Mom.." - he drawled lazily.

"Hmm?" - came the reply.

"Wanna help me with my Academy katas?" - The silence was complete and total... After a few moments Yoshino was checking his forehead to see if he had a fever. Shika gave her a petulant glare, which caused Yoshino to snicker happily and ruffle his hair.. or his pony-tail rather.

"Well well well... out resident lazy-ass actually wants to practice something..." - she drawled, teasing her son mercilessly.

"Shut up..." - grumbled Shikamaru - "I just..." - he trailed off... it was a thought that occurred to him only today and to be frank he didn't really plan on putting much effort into it. But when he was trying to get Naruto to study for the test, he realized that he was being a real hypocrite, even if his intentions were in the right place. Naruto hated theory with a passion. It could be because he got sent out of the classroom so much and just could understand the concepts by himself, but whatever the case Shikamaru was trying to make him study and Naruto kept whining about 'how would you feel if someone made you do something you don't like doing?' and it was that comment, made in such a whiny voice that finally got Shika the kick in the ass he needed. It was true, he aced all the theory stuff, he didn't give two hoots about the practicals. And this was actually a big handicap. Not only did it make his grades suffer, which in turn made his mother angry, but it also meant that once he was a genin he'd have a lot of weak areas. Of course his blind spots might not be as important because Ino-Shika-Cho teams worked well and were well suited, but did he really want to bet his potential surviving on this? And the answer was no... HELL NO even. And funnily enough, he owed this realization to Naruto.

"Just what?" - prodded Yoshino, from the look on her son's face she could tell that something happened. Possibly while they were failing to study. Something she wasn't there to hear. But it didn't really matter what the reason was, her son actually had some motivation to work. It didn't matter to her if it was just a one-time thing, she was happy regardless. She took up the regular stance and waited.

Shika sighed. This was the start of something that would bring change. It was a bit scary. Not sparring with his mother, no, but … evolving from a regular Nara to Nara Shikamaru. And come to think of it, it wouldn't be too bad to be known not just for your clan, but for your own skills. He gave his mother a hesitant smile: "Okay, let's do this."

* * *

What followed was probably just about what she expected to happened, but it was still... horrible. Yoshino never really knew just how BAD her son was at taijutsu. And this made her wonder... did he know anything about ninjutsu aside from the clan techniques Shikaku taught him? Or genjutsu? She bent down and helped the boy get on his feet.

"Well... that could have gone better..." - mumbled Shikamaru.

"You could say that again." - drawled his mother.

"So what did I do wrong?" - asked the youngster and once again made his mother loose the gift of speech.

"You serious?" - she blurted out.

"Yesss..." - he deadpanned, staring at her incredulously.

As a reply, his mother quickly hugged the life out of him.

"mom..." - he wheezed as air was being squeezed out of his lungs - "need..." - wheeze - "air..."

He was swiftly released and the woman blushed in embarrassment:

"Sorry. Shika-chan. I'm just so happy." - she smiled apologetically and pushed a dark lock of hair behind her ear - "I'm just so happy to see you finally pull yourself together. You have so much talent. I was really worried your father's laziness was too much to overcome."

The only reply she got was a weak glare and an unhappy grumble. She couldn't believe what she was seeing – her son was actually pouting.

"Alright then, listen up." - she decided not to alienate him from this newfound resolve - "First of all, your moves are sloppy, like you don't practice them at all. Now I know that your father trains you in the clan jutsu. But Shika.. you do know that there is more to being a ninja than that, right?"

Her son gave her a blank look that generally meant a silent 'are you serious right now?' and then sighed:

"Yes, mom, I know. Otherwise we wouldn't be doing this."

Yoshino gave him a fond smile and went back to giving him pointers on how to actually improve his pretty much abysmal taijutsu. She knew for a fact if this newfound determination of his actually lasted, her son would be an amazing shinobi one day.

* * *

 **End Note** : see you next time =) and remember - leave a review. they encourage me to keep writing :P


	7. Chapter 4

**Summary:** 1 year to graduation. Shikamaru drags his parents inot Naruto's life. How will this change the young Uzumaki? Will this influence Shika in any long term way? And what is this that's happening with our favorite leaders of the 'Sasuke-stalking' club? 0.o wanna know? well then stay with the story and find out eventually lol

 **Pairing:** Nope, not even thinking about them at this point =)

 **Warnings** :... emm... clueless Naruto? mentions of neglect.

 **P.S.:** oooo review cookie, me love them.

TigrezzTail: thank you very much dear, i like u love it =) it really ain't healthy eating those amounts of ramen imo lol.

* * *

 **=may the plotting commence...=**

While his wife was doing God knows what to his son outside, Shikaku made himself comfortable on the floor and looked closely at the child in front of him. Though he's met Uzumaki Naruto more than once during his visits with the Hokage, he had no personal experience with the boy. What his sharp eyes told him about the kid however, was not something he wanted to see. There were lots of small scars, not noticeable unless you looked really closely, but way more numerous than was normal for a wannabe shinobi. The horrible orange jumpsuit was one or two sizes too big for the kid and hang on him like on a skeleton, this indicated that Naruto didn't eat enough. He suspected that being the jinchuuki had some affect on the boy's health, but he wasn't about to actively look into that. He's heard from the Academy teachers that the blond an abysmal student and the total dead-last in his class. How could that be true he had no idea, but he would do his best to fix that... among other things apparently.

The whisker marks on the boy's sun-kissed face. Those were what identified him as a jinchuuriki and that was also how most villagers knew who the demon kid was. Shikaku would bet his next salary that if they were to disguise the boy, hide the whiskers, maybe teach him how to do a more advanced henge... though from what he recalled about the kid's anti-pervert jutsu, he had that down... if only he'd realize he could use it for more than pranks that is.

Naruto fidgeted. The silence was unnerving and the man's stare was a bit creep. The boy being who he was, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind:

"Ojii-san... are you a pervert?" - he asked timidly, crossing his hands over his chest unconsciously.

Naruto stared. Shikaku's jaw dropped. Naruto twitched. Shikaku face-palmed... And then the man started laughing. Loudly.

The little blond scowled:

"Why you laughing at me mister?"

"Cause you're weird."

"I'm not the one staring at a little kid like that..." - mumbled Naruto.

"I wasn't trying to hit on you _Naru-chan." -_ the man wiggled his eyebrows a teasing smirk on his lips.

"N...n..na...naru – CHAN?! - yelped Naruto - "what the hell old man?"

Shikaku chuckled and flicked the boy on the forehead: "I'm not that old. And the reason I was studying you is because you can find out a lot just from observing how a person dresses or how they behave."

The blond's eyes grew huge:

"Wow!" - he beamed at the Nara - "Mister, teach me! Please please please!"

The jounin commander chuckled and ruffled his spiky blond locks:

"hmmm I will." - the man gave him a grin - "if you get good marks at the academy for the next 2 weeks."

He then watched the boy loose all his enthusiasm. That was just plain weird. He saw Naruto's lips move, but he only barely caught the words 'never' and 'fair'. And that made his brain go into overdrive. 'Never fair'. He knew how the civilians treated the boy, or at least he could make a good enough guess judging on his clothes, hight, all those small scars and his ridiculous love of ramen. And he knew a lot of parents told their children to stay away from the young jinchuuriki. They couldn't tell them what Naruto was, but that didn't stop them from calling the boy names and telling their kids he was dangerous and to stay away. So it was really not all that big a leap to assume that there'd be teachers at the academy who'd enjoy sabotaging his education. He needed more information:

"What's with that face, Naru-chan?" - he teased gently - "It cant be that hard..."

Naruto gave him a small glare:

"They don't like me there."

Shikaku rolled his eyes, this was sooo troublesome. Getting the kid to talk about things he didn't want to say would require a LOT of patience.

"What makes you say that, little one?"

The boy scoffed and gave him a _look._ One that was quietly asking the man if perhaps he was an idiot. It was very out of place and didn't quite match with everything else he knew about the boy. And yet the words that came out were indeed very much expected:

"Cause no one else likes me."

That was a very sad way to look things, even if it did make a sort of sense... but that couldn't really be true. After all there was the Hokage, there was Shikamaru, Yoshino and himself even. And there were those people at the ramen stand. But compared to all the other people in the village, they'd have to show the boy heaps of love and affection to make him see that instead of everything else. In short – What. A. Drag.

* * *

At the same time at the Yamanaka clan compound one Yamanaka Ino sat on her bed staring intently at the huge picture of Sasuke that was plastered to the wall, as she tried to understand when exactly all her free time was consumed by this boy. What was it about him? The first answer was the obvious and over-used one: 'sasuke-kun is so cool!' And that was certainly true to a degree, but... no boy was worth losing friends, no boy was worth giving up her dream. Especially if said boy actually didn't give a hoot about you. With a sigh Ino pick up an orange from the plate on the bedside table and stretched out on the bed, looking around.

Not so long ago there were scrolls all over the place, spare training kunai here and there. Now all she could see was fashion magazines and clothes. She could barely recognize her room. And that … that was just so pathetic... and admitting that, even silently to herself, it hurt. It hurt to know that she wasted 3 years of her life. And it was indeed pretty much wasted. She wasn't in such a drastic situation as Sakura, or Sage forbid Amy... but that was a small mercy and no achievement of her own, no that was all thanks to the training her dad insisted on. But it wasn't all lost yet. She still had around 7 months before graduating. And she would use that time to the best of her abilities... and Sasuke would one day fall on his knees to beg for her attention. The picture her mind conjurer was a very appealing one, but that would have to be an added bonus, not the reason for her to grow stronger. No, she was Yamanaka Ino, heiress to one of the great shinobi clans of Konoha, and she would not let herself to be upstaged by civilian girls like Sakura.

With a quiet grunt Ino crawled out of bed and started throwing all the fashion magazines into an empty box under her table. She enjoyed looking good and all, but really, now that the Sasuke-induced haze was no longer obscuring her vision, she could really take a mental step back and see just how ridiculous she looked when she tried to dress like the models she saw in the magazines... girls that were at least 5-6 years older than her. Ino herself was much more lucky than her former best friend and even at the tender age of eleven, her body was slowly developing. But even so putting on clothes that just didn't fit her age... well, to be quite honest, she was very thankful no one laughed at her the way they did at Naruto's jumpsuit... the very thought of that ugly thing made her shudder.

Shaking off the nasty memory, Ino then pulled down the huge Sasuke picture and replaced it with the Elemental Nations' map that used to hang there a couple years ago. Just that small change made her room look more like a living space of an actually sane person and that was a big relief. Checking the alarm clock, Ino decided to go to sleep early, after all she'd have to go shopping tomorrow.

* * *

 **End Note** : Hope this chapter made some sense and i'm sorry if u guys think i'm dragging it out lol. I shall do my best to try and have some stuff actually start happening x.x so have patience with me =) and as always - read and hit dat review button, you know you want to =)


	8. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Sooo... yeah, a lot of you probably want to murder me by now. with how i seem to die off for years =.=' i can only apologize for that. what can i say. RL is a bitch. If you're wondering why i'm updating this one instead of the Black Lord. Well... it's quite simple really, because this one is so much shorter that it's easier to pick up, after all not that much has happened in here yet hehehe =)

 **Pairings:** still too trouble to think about :P

 **DISCLAIMER:** NOPE, still **NOT** mine =.='

* * *

 **=errr... #5=**

Blushing slightly the dark haired girl watched her cousin train. He was certainly on a totally different level than her. What amazed her the most was how confident he was. Even if he was branded with the caged-bird seal, he still was so strong, way stronger than she could ever be. And to top that off he was also very handsome. Many, both inside the clan and out of it, would call him a princess now and then because of his fair skin and long silky hair... but to her it was weird. Why would they do that? Did they not have any eyes? No matter how many times she hid behind the wall and watched him, her fingers poking together nervously, she never once thought of him as anything else but a boy. He was a couple years older than her and already turned 14 by now, so she could see that he was way more developed and on his way to maturity than the boys in her Academy class. It was because of knowing Neji that Hinata never once fell for the haughty aura that surrounded the Uchiha boy in her class. In her opinion Naruto was way more worthy of admiration, but it was indeed Neji that showed her what a true genius was... if only his personality was a bit more like Naruto's... The girl gave a soft barely audible sigh and left her post to go study for the upcoming surprise test.

The young teen she's been observing stopped when he sensed the young heiress leave. He was … confused. Making a few steps back he leaned against a sakura tree and sighed. He was determined to hate the girl for her part in his father's demise, but... but... here he ground his teeth unconsciously... the girl was just so soft, so gentle. Any good trait you could name that was associated with a civilian girl and Hinata probably had that in spades. However she lacked resolve. Resolve he himself had plenty of, just not when he felt his shy younger cousin watching him. She probably thought she was being careful, but as an already active shinobi, he was more skilled than her and always when when she was around. Hell, he's even caught her blushing around him on a few occasions. If he were anyone else, he'd think the girl had a crush on him. Which of course, with how the Hyuuga clan tended to marry mostly within the clan, wasn't all that off-putting. It was the memories of how she was almost kidnapped and how his father paid with his life for his twin's lack of restraint that gave Neji the resolve to sneer at his sweet little cousin. He knew his uncle wouldn't be too pleased if he chose to accept Hinata's crush on him, the man has already said as much. And as a fresh genin, just barely one year out of the academy, what could he do against the head of the main branch and the whole Hyuuga clan? Nothing. That's what. Not now. Not while he was too weak to protect even himself. He narrowed his eyes and went back to practice.

 _'one day. One day I will become strong enough.'_ \- he vowed – _'strong enough to avenge my father. Strong enough to be her shield and stop that bastard from hurting her this much.'_

 **||Nara compound||**

What. A. Drag. That was pretty much the motto of life if you were a Nara. And it was doubly so when you had to actually do shit even when it is extremely troublesome to do it. Thus thought Nara Shikaku as he was the small blond child that honestly looked like he was 8 years old at most instead of the almost 12 that he actually was.

How do you tell a child that the hatred he was surrounded with wasn't his fault? And even better, how do you do that without revealing the secret?

"Naruto..." - he started carefully as he came close and knelt down in front of the boy so he was on almost the same level and could look straight into those captivating blue eyes that were currently glittering with held back tears. He hesitated a bit, not really knowing what to say, but knowing that silence wasn't really an option. With a sigh, he reached forward, the boy tensing immediately, but not running just yet. Ever so lowly the dark haired man drew the child to his chest in a light embrace.

Silence stretched. Neither one spoke, Shikaku waiting with baited breath to see how the boy would respond and Naruto feeling out of his depth. He's been hugged before, of course, by Sandaime-jiji. But this felt different. Safer somehow. Moments silently went by and the boy gradually relaxed. The big warm hand carding through his hair was nice, it made his head lean against Shikaku's check as his eyes slowly closed.

The man blinked when he felt the blond head he's been petting slump slowly against his chest. With a look down he noticed the kid had dozed off. It made his lips stretch into a soft smile. This was good. It gave him time to think. And think he shall. Gathering the boy in his arms Shikaku stood and proceeded into his son's bedroom, where he put Naruto on the bed, took his over-sized jacket off and tucked him in.

"Now let's see what we can do here..." - he muttered under his breath with one last look at the slumbering boy - "Time for some answers."

Yoshino and Shikamaru both looked up when they saw Shikaku exit the house with a contemplative and rather dark expression on his face.

"Dear?" - his mom asked, coming up to her husband.

He gave her a hug and patted his son on the head, chuckling as the boy grumbled.

"I'm going to be back soon." - he stated calmly.

"And Naruto?" - asked Shikamaru anxiously.

"he's fine. He was tired, so I put him to rest for a bit. I should be back before he wakes up, so just let him sleep." - the man didn't mention the cause, but he had no doubt that his son would make the right conclusions. He was a Nara after all - "I need to visit the Hokage, that's all." With a small smile he put his hands together into a seal and was gone in a swirl of leaves.

"One day i'll make him teach me that." - grumbled the younger Nara, much to his mother's amusement.

They stood together for a bit, letting their muscles rest after the intense, but not too long work-out. The forest was rather quiet, though u could see a deer darting here and there. Owl hoots and other birds could be heard in the distance.

Yoshino glanced at her son: "Come on, let's have a break and I'll help you and Naruto-kun study after he wakes up. I won't have you fail the test." The woman couldn't help but chuckle at how horrified her son looked.

But strangely very soon the boy let out a weird noise that was a mix between a chocked down giggle and a chuckle:

"Good luck."

The Nara Matriarch crossed her hands under her bust and raised an eyebrow at the weird reaction:

"Now why would I need luck?"

Shikamaru grinned up at her mother, for a change looking very much his age:

"Because while I'm just very lazy, Naruto borders total fail when it comes to written tests and theory in general."

Yoshino frowned. Knowing what she did about the blond's parents she doubted their son could be an idiot:

"Well, I guess we'll see." - she drawled and guided her son back to the house.

* * *

 **||Hokage Tower||**

Life sucked for one Sarutobi Hiruzen. It just Sucked. Yup, that's right all the way capital S sucked. Why, you might wonder? After all, wasn't he the one knows as the Professor? Wasn't he the Hokage? Weeellll... the possition came with hidden dangers. Many of them in fact. But none as dangerous and obscure as the horror known to any Kage – PAPERWORK! With yet another sigh the old shinobi let his eyes wander around the office. The portraits of his teachers Hashirama & Tobirama Senju, the Shodaime & Nidaime Hokage respectively and then his successor and also predecessor Namikaze Minato. Hiruzen really wondered how they dealt with this horror he was forced to suffer. His eyes wondered to the crystal ball on his desk that he usually used to keep an eye on the things going on in the village, and then over the various keepsakes and random thingies he used as paperweights when his enemy threatened to get the best of him.

Gritting his teeth, the old man looked over the last few papers that were still requiring his attention and viciously stamped them. Having done that, the elderly shinobi felt an immense sense of relief. It was of course short-lived however, since just when he was reaching for the drawer that hid his beloved Icha-Icha Paradise a loud and impatient sounding knock came from the door.

"Noooo" - the leader of the village all but whined before taking a deep breath to school his features and called his unexpected visitor to enter. He blinked at his Jonin Commander in surprise. Seeing this man here without a summons was very rare. At least this promised to be either important or interesting enough to have made the ever so lazy Nara Shikaku to come back to the tower after work was over.

The man strode to stand in front of his leader's desk and gave a curt bow: "Hokage-sama."

"Shikaku." - Sarutobi motioned for the man to speak - "What brings you here?"

The Nara clan head tilted his head to side, looking at the person in front of him: "Saaa..." - he chuckled awkwardly - "My son has made a new friend." Inwardly he was cursing his lack of imagination outside of combat tactics.

Sarutobi smiled: "Well that's great... but is this a reason for you coming here?"

The Nara moved his head sightly to the side and rested his eyes on the portrait of his now dead friend, Minato:

"From a certain point of view it is." - he stated with a sigh - "You see, I have reason to believe he's being sabotaged at the academy."

Now this did indeed sound like a reason for concern, after all they had to be sure that all the graduating genin had the skills necessary to have a chance at becoming good ninja. Before the Hokage could respond, however, Shikaku continued speaking: "I would like to ask your permission to make it into a mission."

"Oh?" - the Hokage sounded at the least curious, if not outright intrigued.

"I would like to assign a ninja chosen by myself to spend a week with each of the year groups. We will pose as a teacher's aid, or a student and observe. This will give us a chance to observe how the Academy functions, how well the curriculum works and how all the students are treated."

This was by far not an ideal way to deal with the situation, certainly more straightforward than most of the stratagems created by the Jonin commander, but it had a good chance of working out.

Hiruzen stroked his chin thoughtfully:

"That is a sound plan. But do you have enough grounds to proceed with such a check?" - here he was mainly concerned about the amount of damn paperwork he'd have to go through once this mission was over.

Shikaku looked his superior straight in the eye: "Those children are out future. We owe it to the them and to ourselves to make sure they get the best preparation they can. After the Third War and then the Kyuubi attack we've been low on man-power and a lot of civilian-born students were admitted into the academy. I've heard that many benchmarks were lowered to admit them. Since those changes, we've never once made a thorough check, My son is close to graduating. His friend is a classmate of his, I owe it both of them and Ino and all the other kids to make sure that each and every one of them and all those younger than them are in good hands and are being trained properly." - he took a deep breath and felt tingles running up and down his spine - "I am the jonin commander, I've received information that could indicate a big flaw in how we train out ninja-hopefuls. Even if the information I have wouldn't be called sufficient by the civilian council, I don't care. This is something I will do, even if I have to do it on my own time by myself. I will not put my son and heir in any kind of potential danger."

 _'Well... I was going to ask him about Naruto...'_ \- he thought ruefully – _'but I suppose it could work out better if I just come across as a concerned parent... after all, dealing with the civilian council is way too troublesome.'_

After the dark haired man left, Hiruzen frowned. It was all well and good and indeed it was a useful thing to do. But he was … curious. Reaching for his all-seeing crystal ball, the old man channeled his chakra into the seal and watched as an image of the Nara home appeared.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hopefully I won't vanish for another year after this chapter LOL. though i have indeed started writing the new one already just ot be on the safe side =)  
Yes, I know Shikaku turned out a bit more energetic than one would expect from a Nara... and that Hinata & Nei moment while cute, was certainly a bit out of the blue, but i had to start it somehow, so please excuse me for that, hope it doesn't stick out too much lol.


	9. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER : NOT MINE :P** unless the occasional OC if any crop up.

 **Pairing:** Naruto / Shikamaru. anything else - wait  & see :P

 **Short recap:** Naruto is becoming closer to Shikamaru & his family, Ino's startign to grow up... Sakura... not so much, Hinata's maybe growing a spine... and maybe crushing on her cousin lol =.='

 **Author's Note** : yesss! i finally managed to write 2 small chapters that don't have a year in between them _*happily dances around*_

* * *

 **=Of Dreams and Hurdles=**

Waking up to smell of food was a new experience for Naruto. He stretched lazily on the bed and uncurled from where he was cocooned in the blankets. Slowly sitting up he rubbed sleep out of his eyes and blinked a few times. His room looked strange he thought, it was darker than he thought and the window was on the wrong side. Something was wrong, thought the boy. Before he could work himself into a panic though, he heard a voice:

"Oh Naruto-kun, I see you decided to wake up." He whipped his head around and came face to face with Sikaku, Shikamaru's father. Instantly he sighed in relief and flopped back onto the pillow as memories of what happened earlier returned.

He looked at the man with a sheepish grin:

"Sorry..." - he started, but the man just shook his head.

"You got nothing to be sorry for son," - the dark-haired man grinned at him – "Now, how about we go have that dinner?"

Skikaku stood up and offered Naruto his hand, helping the boy get out of bed. The Nara was glad that for now the little blond seemed to behave like a regular child. They would of course have to continue the rather difficult conversation from before, but for now he would let the boy settle a bit.

* * *

 **||Hyuuga compound||**

While her blond hero was stuffing face and complaining about lack of ramen, much to the amusement of Shikamaru's parents, Hinata was looking through scrolls at the clan library. The girl was growing more and more frustrated by the minute.

She had to fight Hanabi for the heiress title soon. She didn't want to of course, because hurting her little sister was the last thing she'd want... but... at the same time she knew that were Hanabi to become the heiress, things would certainly NOT change for the better around her home, in face they might even become worse.

You see, Hyuuga Hinata had a dream. And that dream was to change her clan, to abolish the damn cage-bird seal that she blamed for the rift festering between the Main House and the Branch Family of the Hyuuga clan. To her they were all the same, they were all Hyuuga. But for some reason very few shared her point of view. The Main House were arrogant assholes if she were to borrow Naruto's description, while the Branch Family members were mostly either resigned or bitter and angry. Even at her tender age of almost 12, Hinata could tell with certainty – this was NOT how a family should function. And she wanted to change it. Wanted them all to get along. Of course this would not be easy at all, but the only way it would be possible at all was if she were clan head. ... And that was at the moment in question. Apparently all because of how soft she was. She knew she had enough skill to defeat her sister, but she also knew that were she to do it, the younger girl would be branded with that horrible seal. So there she was going through the library, looking for elemental jutsu to she could use. Not in the spar with Hanabi of course, but she was to take the graduation exam soon enough, and she wanted to do well, wanted to not be a burden for her team. All that time watching Neji taught her one thing – her Juu-ken was not like it should be, not like most Hyuuga's did it. For some reason she was different. And she wanted to know why. She hit hard, that was not in question, and she was certainly accurate enough to hit all the tenketsu points properly. So then why. Why did she feel so... awkward in the traditional Hyuuga stance. That was what brought her to the library.

And it was there that she noticed that most of the scrolls they had were solely on the gently fist or on the Byakugan. There were a few defensive earth style techniques, but pretty much nothing else. No genjutsu, no elemental jutsu that weren't defensive earth style... no information on medical jutsu or seals... This made Hinata frustrated. But it also gave her a hint. Putting things back in place, she jumped out of the window and went to visit one Yuuhi Kurenai, who has been her tutor for several years now.

* * *

 **||Haruno residence||**

After a more than healthy doze of Sasuke-stalking... *cough* Sasuke-admiring, one pink-haired young lady called Haruno Sakura was happily walking home. She was of course slightly annoyed that Ino once again thwarted her attempts to be alone with her crush, but she wouldn't give up, there was always tomorrow. True, she had a test to prepare for... _'curse that idiot Naruto!'_ \- came the vicious thought of her less restrained Inner self. Sakura shook her head to get rid of the annoying voice that piped up in her head now and then and walked through the front door, shutting it softly behind her.

Her mother, council woman Haruno Mebuki, looked up from where she was rummaging around in the kitchen, when she heard the door close: "Hello dear, bath is ready and your dinner is on the table in your room." - she said with a huge smile. Sakura smiled, though on the inside she was cringing. Every day it was the same, bath with a strong cherry scent and carrots for dinner. It was of course all worth it – suffering was worth it if she would win Sasuke's heart.

The girl went upstairs, keeping the fake smile firmly in place. Once in the privacy of her own room, she dropped the smile, took off her slightly dusty clothes, put them into the hamper and slid into the bath, sighing with pleasure as she relaxed for a while, not paying much attention to the heavy cherry aroma that made her slightly dizzy. Keeping slim was hard, especially since she was always hungry, more so after school. But she wouldn't give in, she refused to be fat... True love would surely triumph... just after she closed her eyes for a moment or two.. with such thoughts her pale green eyes closed and she dozed off.

* * *

 **||back with the Nara clan||**

Shikamaru set across from Naruto as his father was looking over the mock tests they finished writing. For Shika it was just troublesome, for Naturo though... it looked like all color drained from his person, if the young Nara didn't know better, he'd suspect his friend had perished from exhaustion.

"Naruto," - said Yoshino, looking at the answers Naruto scrawled – "can you please tell me, who taught you to write?"

The boy stilled in his fidgeting and looked gloomily at the desk, while mumbling something under his breath.

The woman frowned slightly and walked around the table to crouch next to the boy. She put her hand on his shoulder and bit back a grimace at how he stiffened when she did so, though he relaxed as soon as he noticed that it was just her:

"Naru-chan, it's okay. We won't think less of you. You can tell us anything, we just want to help."

"But why?" - he all but whimpered, confused blue eyes racing between the 3 members of the Nara clan that were sitting around him. The boy felt a bit crowded, but safe and secure at the same time, which to be honest was rather weird.

Shikamaru's parents traded worried glances. It looked like the boy might need some help from Inoichi to overcome whatever trauma he had. It was obvious that he had been treated like shit by the village, they did all they could to help, as did most of the jonin in the village, but the rest of the population had a deep irrational hatred for the boy. One that he was aware of, but had no idea about the reasons.

Yoshino took him into a loose hug, while her son put a reassuring hand on his arm:

"You seem to be a nice boy." - she said with a smile – "And you're the first friend Shika's brought home other than Chouji & Ino. That tells us a lot."

"But..." - Naruto stubbornly blinked tears out of his eyes, he didn't want to be a cry-baby, not in front of these people that were so nice to him – "but no one else ever likes me."

"That's because they never tried to give you a chance." - stated Shikaku firmly, leaving no room for doubts or worries – "If they did, they would know you are a nice boy, just like we do."

A small doubtful smile could be seen on Naruto's face then: "You sure? Is it not because i'm a demon?" - the last word was almost too quiet, but in the silence of the room it was well heard.

Yoshino pursed her lips, Shikaku glanced at his son, while Shikamaru had yet another piece of the puzzle drop onto the table of the Naruto-puzzle. And this one was an important one, he could feel that much. The boy glanced between his parents and his friend. He's heard people around the village mutter about the blond. And the word demon has certainly been mentioned a lot. Weird thing was though, every time someone mentioned it, they'd be quickly shushed up by their friends, or relatives, or just other random people. All this was done instantly, accompanied by eyes darting all around as if expecting something bad to happen. And clearly, Naruto was aware of this. The blond had no clue why it happened, but he was aware that it did. Judging by his parents reaction though, those 2 definitely knew what was going on.

With a heavy sigh Shikaku scratched the back of his neck : "No easy questions with you, huh?" - he chuckled, but it was a flat strained sound – "Now, boys, what I am about to tell you, is classified as an S-rank secret within this village." - he gulped – "And normally I would be killed for speaking about it."

Both boys' eyes shot towards him and both looked worried, but the man help up his hand, asking for silence: "But you see, this secret, it is about you Naruto. And you deserve to understand. And well, you probably have an idea anyway, just not the right one. So I will explain things to you. But on one condition."

The blond quickly nodded his head, making The Nara clan head smiled slightly: "Do you guys remember when the Yondaime-hokage defeated the Nine-tailed fox?"

Naruto nodded again, this time with a frown on his face: "The day i was born."

"Just so." - agreed the man – "That alone would be reason enough. But..."

Shikamaru tilted his head to the side:

"But Youndaime-sama killed the beast." - he stated – "What does it matter?"

This again made Shikaku and Yoshino trade a rather nervous look:

"Well, boys... the Kyuubi.. it is a mass of sentient chakra. It... cannot be killed."

In the resulting silence you could literally hear the crickets jumping around:

"So then what happened to it?" - there was a clear frown on Naruto's forehead, his fringe falling into his eyes, giving them an older than he was look.

The Jonin commander of Konoha leaned back a bit to look at the ceiling: "Well... the truth is... The Yondaime couldn't kill something that was immortal. So he sealed the beast instead, using a very powerful seal that demanded he sacrifice his life to complete it." This was said with some stops in between, even after all these years it was hard to talk about, Minato had been, after all, his friend.

There was a light of understanding in his son's eyes, finally this part of the puzzle was solved, Shikamaru now knew exactly what caused the treatment of Naruto. And he was pissed. He couldn't understand how people could be so blind, so he said as much, for once speaking his mind without thinking about it first:

"How can you not understand the difference between a vessel and what is stored inside?" - he all but shouted, gripping Naruto's arm tightly.

Yoshino gave him a sad smile: "That's how people are. A lot of them lost many precious people that day. They needed someone to blame."

"That's not fair though.." - her son started to protest and then trailed off, already knowing what would the answer be – Life was after all NOT fair. People didn't always get what they wanted, but neither did they always get what they deserved.

Naruto meanwhile was quiet, The hand gripping his arm was tight, but it grounded him, not letting the blond get overcome by emotions. Just as Shikamaru understood the situation, so did he. And it hurt. It hurt that most of the people around him couldn't be bothered to look at him for more than a moment it took to see his whisker marks. It hurt that he was the one chosen for this, he didn't even realize he was speaking until the words were already out of his mouth:

"Why me?"

* * *

 **Chapter End Note:** I was gonna see if I can make it a bit longer, but decided that i want a bit more time to think about this. If i should let Shikaku tell him about Minato, or if someone should interrupt him... If you got an idea feel free to let me know =)  
I hope you guys don't mind that it's very dialogue heavy =.='  
P.S.: here is to hoping i got enough self-control to NOT let Sakura drown in the bath lol

Till next time,  
Tsuki.


	10. Chapter 7

**Short Summary:** How Naruto changes with Shikamaru there to support him.

 **Pairings:** Naruto / Shikamaru, others tbd.

 **DISCLAIMER:** i do NOT own Naruto =) perhaps the occasional OC^^

 **Author's Note:** Thank you very much to Merlenyn for being my best reviewer, along with TigrezzTail, kayna96  & MidnightHunter74.

* * *

 **Chapter Seven.**

 **||Haruno Residence||**

With a frown firmly on her face, councilwoman Haruno Mebuki stormed up the stairs. 'How inconsiderate can this girl be!' - she fumed in her mind – 'wasting water for so long!'

"Sakura!" - she shrieked, as she knocked on the bathroom door loudly - "It's high time to get out. Other people need to use the bathroom too!"

Ordinarily such a demand would be immediately complied with, but not today. Today there was no sign of movement from behind the door. The woman knocked even louder: "SA-KU-RA!"

All the noise attracted the attention of the tall man with dark almost purple hair and sparkling sky blue eyes – Haruno Kizashi, Sakura's father.

"Jeez, woman, your shrieking would wake the dead!" - he snapped. Kizashi was rarely home with days, you see, and when he was, he wanted to relax between missions, not listen to whatever nonsense his wife had on her mind. Don't get me wrong, he still loved her, but over 10 years of living together has opened his eyes to the woman's flaws.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do if your daughter has been sitting in there for over an hour now!"

The man's palm smacked against his face: "I've told you before you insufferable woman, do NOT make her take a bath so soon after coming home, it's not safe!" - with that he turned around and kicked down the door, for all his kind disposition, he was after all a shinobi of the leaf.

"Well, that stench of sweat is also not safe for my delicate..." - her rant was cut off short as they noticed her daughter unconscious and submerged in the tub, the scent of cherries heavy in the air. It was even enough to make the man slightly dizzy and he was there only for a moment.

"Fuck!" - cursed Kizashi. He roughly pushed pass his wife, he dashing forward to drag the girl out and wrap a towel around her. With a glare at the frozen form of his wife, who stood silently where she was, her eyes round in horror, he vanished in a swirl of leaves, clutching his daughter to his chest and hoping it was not too late to save his baby girl.

* * *

 **||Hokage Tower||**

One Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't really having a good day anymore. Even though there was no more paperwork for a change, what he witnessed while observing … *cough* spying *cough* … on the Nara, gave him cause for a headache. He knew well he wouldn't do anything to punish his Jonin commander, after all... he wasn't exactly supposed to have witnessed this conversation anyway. But... now he at least knew where the man's sudden desire to check out the academy came from. That part was so unlike the usually laid-back Nara, that for a moment Hizuren thought that perhaps something happened to his son and heir, but it was indeed just as Shikaku claimed – a new friend alluded to things being wrong, a very surprising friend indeed.

Of course, when he instated the laws around Naruto, he did it to protect the boy, hoping that if the parents couldn't tell their children about the blond being a Jinchuuriki, then he'd have it easier making friends and such. But that was of course a pipe-dream. What happened instead was that the villagers glared, whispered and mistreated the boy in any way they could. And now it seemed even some shinobi finally found a way to mistreat him too. That would not be allowed.

With a discreet hand-sign he summoned a dog-masked ANBU:

"Inu, bring me Yamana Inoichi & Anko."

"Hai, Hokage-same." - with a curt response the masked man was off.

The old man glanced at the Yondaime's portrait: "How I wish you were still here to this damn job..." with another heavy sigh, the Hokage of Konoha looked out the window at the dark sky and wondered if the next day would bring more bad news... those after all never came alone.

* * *

 **||Hospital||**

Once the girl's life was out of immediate danger, the doctor turned to call in the man waiting in the corridor, it was time to get some answers: "Do come in, Haruno-san."

Kizashi wasted no time to come to his daughter's side, she was still unconscious, but it seemed like she had some more color.

"Now that there is no immediate danger, I need to tell me exactly what happen."

The man shrugged helplessly: "I don't really know. When I came back from my mission, I handed in the report at the Hokage tower and came home to sleep. I woke up because my wife was screeching at Sakura to get out of the bath. I came out and when she wouldn't respond, I kicked the door in and carried her here."

The doctor scowled: "I see. Haruno-san, there is no easy way to tell you this. From what we can tell, your daughter just barely managed to survive. She is severely underweight and lacks muscle mass, especially seeing as how she is an Academy student. Do you have any idea as to why that might be?"

With a growl and a muttered curse, Kizashi ran his hand through his shoulder length hair that he had to time to style that day: "I'd assume that would be her mother's influence."

"Explain." - the doctor was taking some notes, listening to what was being said. And so Kizashi told her of his marriage to Mebuki due to her pregnancy, of how they fell out of love and how he took on more missions than necessary because his wife just needed more and more. And of his precious daughter he saw rarely because his wife didn't like him influencing her.

"... as a small kid she was energetic and a bit of a tom-boy. She would come home dirty and happy. It drove her mother spare. She didn't want a shinobi kid, she wanted a little princess to marry off. I can only assume as to what happened when I wasn't home... but this ... was not an outcome either of us wanted."

The doctor nodded, she was happy that this was not actual abuse, but more of a unintentional neglect, at least from the father's side:

"I see. Haruno-san. I will recommend you to refrain from taking missions out of the village until your daughter has become a genin if that is what she actually wants... provided she actually wakes up."

Kizashi nodded, tightly, one could see shivers going up and down his frame, whether it was from sadness, anger or both was anyone's guess though.

"Thank you doctor, I will go ... talk to my wife now. Could you please inform me once you have some news?"

"By all means," - she gave the man a sad smile – "You should know though, the Hokage will have to be informed of this. Sakura is after all a hopeful shinobi of the village."

* * *

 **||the next day, Academy||**

Naruto was on time. For the first time since first week of first year, Uzumaki Naruto was on time. Iruka stared. Classmates stared. Naruto giggled on the inside, though the conversation from last night was still loud in his ears. He knew now why he was treated the way he was, he knew what a burden he carried. He also knew he had a mother and father that died for him. Mother and father whose names he couldn't know yet because it was not safe. That part of course made him angry, but thankfully Yoshino managed to explain it gently and it actually made sense. After all, what could he do against trained assassins when he couldn't really fight off adult villagers. One thing he knew was that whoever his Mom & Dad were, they were powerful. Powerful enough that in some countries he'd be killed on sight if anyone ever knew whose child he was. And so he accepted the situation, not really having any other choice. He did promise himself though, that he would do his best. That he would put in the effort even if what he was learning was boring, even if he didn't understand how it could help him. With that resolution in mind, the young blond took a sit on Shikamaru's right side, since the boy literally dragged him there. Offering Chouji a small smile, he took out his text-book and a notebook.

During class Shika would throw small glances at both his friends while pretending to be asleep. He was glad to see that even though his writing still resembled a chicken scratch it already became a bit more read-able. There were other weird things as well.

Ino was taking notes and not staring at Sasuke with hearts in her eyes, Hinata had always been a good student, but today she seemed even more focused than usually, even he himself actually took some minimal notes. Something was going on, Shikamaru felt it to the bones. His class was... changing, one by one people were waking up to the reality of their choice of becoming ninja.. of course certainly not all of them.

Kiba was doodling and throwing paper-balls with offensive pictures at Naruto, who was for once not reacting, which of course after the revelations of last night, Shika was not surprised. Kiba however was, and not just surprised, he was also angry – how dare the blond ignore him, the so-called 'alpha', though Shika was pretty sure no one except the younger Inuzuka actually saw him as an alpha. If anything, that role was put on the last Uchiha. Sasuke, of course didn't want anything to do with anyone. After what happened to his clan the boy became withdrawn and driven solely by anger and revenge. Something really out of this world would have to happen to get through to that guy.

Another weird thing was that Sakura wasn't in class. Usually she was the first one to come and would leave after Sasuke together with Ino. She was literally the #1 Uchiha fangirl. When it came to theory and books, she had top marks, she always knew the answer. If this was due to studying a lot or just naturally good memory was of course unknown, but that was as far as her skills went... and in the opinion of many, theory with no practical ability to back it up was rather useless.

During lunch Shikamaru made sure to grab Naruto before he could go off to wherever it was he generally spent his break. The blond looked up with a startled look, which made Shikamaru chuckle fondly:

"Where do you think you're going? Mom made us lunch."

Naruto blinked. He knew he was on good terms with the young Nara... but he didn't expect the other boy to be willing to let their classmates know about it. He grinned brightly, happy to be proven wrong:

"Wow, that's awesome. Your mom is a great cook."

"Sure is," - replied Shikamaru while dragging Naruto over to a tree in the yard where Chouji was waiting.

* * *

 **||meanwhile||**

While Naruto was being introduced to Shika's other best friend, Shikaku and his teammate also best friend Inoichi were going through the dusty Academy archives. Here they found all the notes about attendance, curriculum and literally everything to do with each of the students... except one. For all intents and purposes Uzumaki Naruto did not have a file, the file itself was of course there, but the information inside was practically a joke. If it was to be believed, then Naruto was ordered out of every single class that had anything to do with any useful skill a shinobi should have. The only classes we was allowed in were the ones when a test would be held. This was a pattern that went on from when Naruto was 5 up to the beginning of last year. This was way too much to be a coincidence.

Shikaku looked up at Inoichi: "Find anything?"

The Yamanaka grimaced: "You could say so."

"Not good news I take it?" - The dark haired male certainly knew his friend very well.

The blond snorted: "Yeah... If it were up to me, I wouldn't let these kids take the exam this year."

Shikaku stared.. and then stared some more: "Surely it can't be THAT bad?!"

His reply was a humorous chuckle: "Well let's see... in kunoichi classes we have poetry, drawing, music, style, ikebana, flirting and so on. For fuck's sake, they're kunoichi, not damn geisha!"

The Nara grimaced: "That... doesn't sounds good. Most of that stuff is useless. No wonder they have more interest in chasing boys than training."

"You could say that again... though you know, Ino really surprised me the other day..." - murmured the taller male, reaching for yet another folder, this one with the assessments.

"Oh?" - inquired Shikaku, yawning discreetly.

"Mhm... She asked me for advice on how to become stronger."

"Wow. Shika was sparring with his mother, believe it or not." - Shikaku shared the odd event of the last day... though of course compared to all the other shit that went on, this was likely the most normal part.

* * *

 **End note** : random place to end, i know, but i wanna think about what exactly those 2 are gonna find in there. For now they just have a very vague idea about Naruto's file and girls' education. sooo hang in there while i think about this a bit LOL and as always review cookies are nice =)


	11. Chapter 8

**Short Summary:** How Naruto changes with Shikamaru there to support him.

 **Pairings:** Naruto / Shikamaru, others tbd.

 **DISCLAIMER:** i do NOT own Naruto =) perhaps the occasional OC^^

 **Author's Note:** Thank you very much to Merlenyn, TigrezzTail, kayna96  & MidnightHunter74 my awesome reviewers, it is always nice to know your thoughts guys and that people that read this story enjoy reading it! =)

* * *

 **Chapter Eight.**

"This is ridiculous..." - murmured Inoichi, leafing through the records of the class that graduated not even 6 month ago.

"Keep still, Ino," - growled Shikaku, from his perch behind the man.

This made the blond roll his eyes in amusement: "That nickname became weird when my daughter was born, you know that right?" - but he none the less tried to refrain from moving too much, as he waited for his friend to re-braid his hair.

"Well, to be fair, before you hit your growth spurt you were as pretty as your daughter will be in a few years."

"If you were anyone else, I'd think that was a pick-up line."

"And if I WAS anyone else, it might have been one."

The pair dissolved into peals of carefree laughter, slumping against each other.

As they did, they knocked over one of the piles of documents. Almost as in slow motion, the 2 jonin observed the pile scatter all over the room, which for some reason only made them laugh laughter, holding each other for support.

"This is just our luck..." - Shikaku managed to get out between laughing, his hair tie fell victim to the bedlam around them and the dark brown hair fell down to his shoulders.

"This definitely looks better on you." - quipped Inoichi, ruffling his hair – "Let the younger Shika resemble a pineapple now, you've had your turn."

"Yeah, yeah... whatever." - murmured the dark haired man, as he bent down to pick up a few of the papers that landed all around them.

"Huh...they lowered the minimum required passing grade in the practical aspects and raised the theoretical parts about 2 years ago..." - he showed the document to his partner – "How does this make any sense? We're training shinobi, not scientists!"

Inoichi hummed in agreement: "This is probably one of those things that could be used as evidence."

"So troublesome" – was the only thing that could be heard from the brunet, as he went about gathering the scattered documents.

* * *

 **||After class, Nara compound||**

Naruto followed after Shikamaru, all the while making sure to not look at the people they came across, he was not in the mood to be stared at by people with contempt or hatred in their eyes. He knew that they lost a lot, but he was not the reason for that, he knew that now. And that knowledge was liberating.

The boy paid more attention to the nature around them. The tall trees, the animals. The Nara compound was almost on the edge of the village, surrounded by a forest all around. To him it seemed like a haven. No people who were not members of Shikamaru's family, no hateful villagers.

"You're lucky..." - the words were spoken before the blond boy even realized he opened his mouth.

"Eh?" - came the oh so clever response. Shikamaru glanced at his friend and the wistful expression on his face – "Lucky how?" - he asked, tilting his head to the side.

Naruto shrugged, not really knowing how to express all that he felt at that moment, but trying his best: "It feels... nice here..." - he gave the boy beside him a helpless smile – "i could relax here maybe.." - he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck, which Shikamaru had noticed was a nervous habit of his.

"Good thing you can come here whenever you want to then." - he resumed tugging Naruto in the direction of the house, where Yoshino stood leaning against the door frame:

"Hi, boys," - she greeted the two with a smile – "How was the Academy?"

The reactions she got were rather funny. Shikamaru covered his mouth failing to cover a yawn, while Naruto's face was an interesting mix between a painful grimace of horror and confusion.

"That bad, huh?" - she chuckled and ruffled their hair – "What did you study today?"

The boys shared a look, neither one was sure they paid 100% attention. Both went with the decision to do so... but... the classes were just sooo boring.

Naruto was the first one to try and satisfy the woman's curiosity:

"Well. Err... We had target practice... and taijutsu spar..."

"Yeah... and before then we had math, history..." - continues Shikamaru, throwing in the pieces he could remember.

Yoshino nodded: "You don't look too tired though. Both target practice and taijutsu... you must have some endurance kids."

Naruto scratched the back of his neck, while Shikamaru rolled his eyes:

"We only had like...10 throws and 1 spar each. It wasn't that hard. Most of the time we had to just sit and watch the others."

His mom frowned: "That doesn't see like enough. Is it always like that?"

"Yup." - Naruto popped the 'p' at the end. A sudden gust of wind blew his fringe into his eyes and he raked his hand through his hair, pushing the stray tresses out of the way.

The woman hummed thoughtfully: "I'm not sure I like how you are being taught. I will talk to Shikaku about other options when he comes back. And Naruto, how about we trim that hair a bit? I think it's getting a bit long."

This made the boy scowl: "I want it longer..."

Yoshino raised an eyebrow at that: "That's fine, but your fringe is not supposed to cover half of your face you know."

* * *

 **||Haruno Residense||**

After leaving the hospital, Kizashi spent the night at the bar and the next morning back at the hospital. Now it was around 5 to 6 PM and he couldn't postpone it anymore. He needed to go confront his wife. He strode down the street, paying little attention to the surroundings, at least not more than any other alert shinobi off-duty. His home was on the smaller side compared to the shinobi clan compounds, but he's never had a problem with it, unlike Mebuki, who constantly complained about how she wanted more space to decorate and so on. Kizashi, however, preferred to save up the money he earned so that his princess would have some sort of inheritance when she grew up. And now... Now his baby girl was at the hospital for almost 24 hours and they had no idea when she would wake up. And for this he blamed the none sense his wife had been poisoning her with.

The irate man pushed the front door open and strode in. He found his spouse sitting in their bedroom, staring at a newspaper, where the story of what happened to their daughter was on the front page. The woman was angry, but that suited him just fine. If she was angry, she was more likely to be straightforward about things for once.

"Well!" - he snapped right of the bat, banging the bedroom door closed behind him – "Anything you want to tell me?"

She flinched at the sound of his voice: "Don't talk to me like that!"

That was certainly not the right way to talk to a very angry man for sure. Kizashi growled deep in his throat and swept a random vase off the table, enjoying the sight of it shattering into tiny pieces:

"You almost killed my daughter, you stupid bitch! How else do you expect to be treated?!"

"I did no such thing!" - there came the righteous indignation, but in his state it only annoyed the male even more. He banged his fist again the wall, leaving an imprint on the too pink paint:

"Yeah? You did no such thing. You only didn't feed her and sent her to bath straight after Academy." - the usually calm and gentle man now resembled a raging beast, his Inner relishing in being let out for a change – "We have had this conversation almost every time i'm home. She's training to be a kunoichi of this village, she spends a lot of energy, she needs healthy food to stay healthy. So how dare you sit there and look like you did no wrong! You didn't even visit her, you stupid cow."

"And why should I?" - at this Kizashi froze and stared at the woman he married, not really believing what he just heard – "My daughter was a gentle little girl who liked ribbons and cute dresses. And then one day she started running around with them shinobi kids and got her head full of bullshit how she wanted to be a ninja like her daddy! I don't know what you did to her, but you did it! I've been trying so hard to fix her!"

"There is nothing wrong with her!" - his hand connected with her face before he even realized he raised his hand... and sent Mebuki tumbling off the bed.

 _ **'Oops'**_ – was the only thing his Inner self had time to think, as the Outer took back control and stood still, observing the crumbled form of his wife.

* * *

 **||Konoha General Hospital||**

One Haruno Sakura was a very popular young woman that day. In her room stood the Hokage, flanked by 2 ANBU guards wearing the Dog and Rabbit masks. Also present were Seiya Hiwamari, the doctor in charge of the case and the person that brought it to the attention of the authorities. Slightly behind her was the Hyuuga patriarch Hiashi and his heiress Hinata as well as the wife of the Yamanaka Inoichi, with her young daughter Ino, standing by the bed, looking sadly at her friend turned rival.

"Thank you very much for coming." - said Hiwamari-san, biting her lip nervously. It was the first time she was so close to so many strong shinobi, healthy ones at least.

"By all means, Seiya-sensei." - responded the elderly leader with a kind smile that worked wonders at making people feel at ease around him – "What can you tell us about this case?"

The doctor bit her lip and and with her father's permission brought Hinata to sit with Ino at the bedside before returning. She sighed and looked at the patient's card before speaking quietly so as not to be overheard by the children:

"As for the circumstances I only know what her father, Haruno Kizashi, has told me. He was resting after coming back from a mission and was woken up by his wife yelling for Sakura here to get out of the bath. He went to investigate and rescued the patient who was submerged in the water. Upon arrival at the hospital we had to restart her heart. After all the tests and exams were administered I can only say that the girl likely passed out due to exhaustion and malnutrition."

Ino's mother frowned deeply:

"Are you saying she was abused by her parents?"

The doctor shook her head, making her short wavy green hair tumble around. There was an earnest convicted look in her wide purple eyes:

"No! No, I'm not accusing Kizashi-san of anything."

The Hyuuga patriarch arched an eyebrow:

"And yet you do not mention the girl's mother."

The only reply he got was an uncertain shrug: "It's not really my place to judge, that's why i brought this to your attention. What I do know however, is that the girl's been here for almost a whole day and the mother hasn't come to visit at all. Now, medically speaking, there is no reason Sakura should be like this. Therefore the only other possibility is psychological."

The blond kunoichi twirled a lock of long blond hair around her finger, humming thoughtfully:

"Well, there are many talented people in our clan. If it a mind-related issue, than we will do our best to try. But wouldn't it be best to consult Tsunade-sama first?"

The Sandaime sighed deeply: "I have sent word to Jiraya, if he can track her, he will do his best. After all Sakura-san is just a child, not even a genin yet. Until she wakes however, I would like to take all the steps to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

"What do you mean to do, Hokage-sama?" - inquired Hiashi, sunlight playing on his long dark chocolate brown hair.

The old man's strong burning gaze looked around the people assembled in the room:

"As we speak Inoichi and Shikaku are at the Academy, checking the documentation. I will ask them to bring the files of the graduating class to begin with. We will set up one on one meetings for the children with the Yamanaka. Should there be anything that indicates neglect or abuse, we will have to discuss it with the shinobi council and figure out what to do. I have little doubt that our shinobi clans know how to treat children as children and not only as small ninja. However, the civilian-born students and especially orphans will need to be watched closely."

"What of the Uchiha?" - asked Hiashi passively.

"What of him?" - returned the Hokage.

The patented Hyuuga stare that he got was unnerving to say the least, Sarutobi wasn't sure why he was on the receiving end of it... until the younger man sighed and continued his thought:

"A just turned 12 year old living alone in the compound where every single member of his clan was murdered by his older brother..."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room. That was not something they wanted to remember. Even the ANBU looked uncomfortable, though it was not easy to tell, not with those masks covering the whole face.

Seiya-san, who was leaning against the wall listening to the discussion around her, looked between the people busy with looking awkwardly at each other. She cleared her throat, bringing attention back to the small woman in customary white healer robes.

"While that is all fine and indeed admirable. It does not help Sakura-san. If indeed Senju-sama can be found and reasoned with, that would be amazing. However. Before looking for ghosts where there might not be any, would you deal with the very real situation this girl is in?!"

With a quick glance at the Hokage, Yamanaka Minako offered the doctor a sheepish smile:

"We do understand that, Seiya-sensei, however until Tsunade-sama returns, or we get word that she refused to do so, there is very little we can do. I promise, I will personally go to the Haruno family later today and speak with both of them to find out all the detail of the incident. However, we have to also look at the big picture – that there is a possibility that this is not an isolated event." - she came up to the shorter green-haired woman and took her hand between her own - "We were not diligent enough when the civilian council pushed through the changes to the Academy curriculum. As a result we now have to have to do a LOT of work to make sure that we cover all the possible options. It will be lucky if Sakura-chan is the only victim of such... ignorance when it comes to differences of raising shinobi and civilian children... but we can't afford to just hope for the best."

Studying the face of the Yamanaka woman, the doctor decided that she seemed earnest and honest enough, she worried her lower lip between her teeth:

"I see your point. SO long as you do your best in regards to Sakura, I have no room to object."

While the adults were having their hushed conversation, Ino and Hinata perched on the edge of the bed, next to each other. Both girls were staring at Sakura worriedly.

"Poor Sakura..." - murmured Hinata, brushing stray pink hairs out of her classmate's face.

"Mhm..." - murmured Ino, holding her friend's hand.

Hinata glanced at her in slight confusion, according to their behavior in class, they weren't all that close... and yet it seemed like Ino cared a great deal about Sakura's well-being:

"This might be none of my business, but..." - she started carefully, looking at the young blond - "Did you two have a fight?"

Ino blinked at the sudden question, and even more so at the unexpected lack of stuttering that she was used to associating with Hyuuga Hinata:

"No," - she smiled sadly - "not really. I guess... we both liked Sasuke... and ..." - she shrugged, trailing off.

Hinata frowned: "what is it that everyone sees in him anyway?"

Ino paused thoughtfully, trying to figure out what to say. She knew she liked him a lot, wanted to prove she was strong enough that he would notice her and not think that she was weak or annoying... but at the end of it, she was just a barely 12 year old girl that didn't always.. or ever really, think too deeply about things before making up her mind.

* * *

 **Chapter End note:** again random pause, wanna decide if Ino's reason's for liking Sasuke are gonna be along the likes of : "Kyaaaa he so cool!" or if there is actually more to it. Seeing how it was enough to motivate to get better, i'm thinking the second lol. Again sorry for what happened to Sakura, this seriously wasn't due to disliking her, but the way it was going, she was stuck in a bad place and this is how i decided to go about fixing it lel


End file.
